Homestead and Folly

I was at a dinner party last Friday and of course as people do they asked "what do you do?" Well as I clumsily tried to explain in a nice short answer that I am raising rabbits and chickens right now, I also renovate for myself and for other people when I have the time and need the money.  My answer is complicated, and multifaceted. Most of the things I do are not glamorous or what I started out in or thought I would end up doing after many years in university. I wouldn't change my lifestyle for anything and the price is a lot of hard work. The payoff is huge, but not usually in dollars. I grew up at a time when women were supposed to prove their worth on the battlefield of professional lawyers, doctors and Wall Street brokers. As my mother and other woman and men fought to get women the freedom to get out of the kitchen and shake off the limitations of domesticity and labour, I think we lost the freedom to choose to stay home and make that a success. After keepi...

I used to dread this time of year. Summer is over, the nights are chilly and the rainy season will soon be here. Now that I live in the country I love this time of year. We have been busy building hutches and rabbit tractors, splitting wood for winter, canning, making repairs, especially to the roof of the garage, aka the barn because when it rains it pours...into the barn. It is all done with that sense of urgency you only get having lived in a seasonal climate. I know the nice days are limited and like the ant I am busy preparing for winter. There will be time later to relax, to visit and to read a book but for now I am invigorated by the cool weather and by the sense of urgency. We are late getting the wood done because we thought we may be moving  so we waited until the last possible moment to buy wood which thankfully isn't too green. We have decided not to rent a splitter this year and are splitting it by hand. I do a few hours in the daytime and Jim does some when he c...